Subject — Unreality

1.     Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

2.     But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

3.     And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

4.     The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

5.     Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6.     For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

1.     Isaiah 56: 1

1     Thus saith the LORD, Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.

2.     Esther 2: 5 (to 2nd ,), 6 (to captivity), 7, 17 (to queen), 21-23

5     Now in Shushan the palace there was a certain Jew, whose name was Mordecai,

6     Who had been carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity …

7     And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle’s daughter: for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful; whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter.

17     And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen …

21     In those days, while Mordecai sat in the king’s gate, two of the king’s chamberlains, Bigthan and Teresh, of those which kept the door, were wroth, and sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.

22     And the thing was known to Mordecai, who told it unto Esther the queen; and Esther certified the king thereof in Mordecai’s name.

23     And when inquisition was made of the matter, it was found out; therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book of the chronicles before the king.

3.     Esther 3: 1, 2, 6 (wherefore), 10, 11

1     After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.

2     And all the king’s servants, that were in the king’s gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.

6     wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.

10     And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy.

11     And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.

4. Esther 4: 4 (to ;)

4     So Esther’s maids and her chamberlains came and told it her. Then was the queen exceedingly grieved;

5.     Esther 5: 1 (to 3rd ,), 6 (to 2nd ?), 7, 8

1     Now it came to pass on the third day, that Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king’s house,

6     And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request?

7     Then answered Esther, and said, My petition and my request is;

8     If I have found favour in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do to morrow as the king hath said.

6.     Esther 6: 1-3, 6-8, 10 (to:), 12

1     On that night could not the king sleep, and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king.

2     And it was found written, that Mordecai had told of Bigthana and Teresh, two of the king’s chamberlains, the keepers of the door, who sought to lay hand on the king Ahasuerus.

3     And the king said, What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai for this? Then said the king’s servants that ministered unto him, There is nothing done for him.

6     So Haman came in. And the king said unto him, What shall be done unto the man whom the king delighteth to honour? Now Haman thought in his heart, To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?

7     And Haman answered the king, For the man whom the king delighteth to honour,

8     Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head:

10     Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king’s gate:

12     And Mordecai came again to the king’s gate. But Haman hasted to his house mourning, and having his head covered.

7.     Esther 7: 1, 2 (to 1st ?), 3, 4 (to 1st .), 5, 6, 9, 10

1     So the king and Haman came to banquet with Esther the queen.

2     And the king said again unto Esther on the second day at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition, queen Esther?

3     Then Esther the queen answered and said, If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request:

4     For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish.

5     Then the king Ahasuerus answered and said unto Esther the queen, Who is he, and where is he, that durst presume in his heart to do so?

6     And Esther said, The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman. Then Haman was afraid before the king and the queen.

9     And Harbonah, one of the chamberlains, said before the king, Behold also, the gallows fifty cubits high, which Haman had made for Mordecai, who had spoken good for the king, standeth in the house of Haman. Then the king said, Hang him thereon.

10     So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.

8.     Psalm 20: 6

6     Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand.

1.     243: 27-29

Truth, Life, and Love are a law of annihilation to everything unlike themselves, because they declare nothing except God.

2.     592: 14 (justice)-15

…justice demands penalties under the law.

3.     339: 7 (Since)-19

Since God is All, there is no room for His unlikeness. God, Spirit, alone created all, and called it good. Therefore evil, being contrary to good, is unreal, and cannot be the product of God. A sinner can receive no encouragement from the fact that Science demonstrates the unreality of evil, for the sinner would make a reality of sin, — would make that real which is unreal, and thus heap up “wrath against the day of wrath.” He is joining in a conspiracy against himself, — against his own awakening to the awful unreality by which he has been deceived. Only those, who repent of sin and forsake the unreal, can fully understand the unreality of evil.

4.     542: 5-13, 19-24

Though error hides behind a lie and excuses guilt, error cannot forever be concealed. Truth, through her eternal laws, unveils error. Truth causes sin to betray itself, and sets upon error the mark of the beast. Even the disposition to excuse guilt or to conceal it is punished. The avoidance of justice and the denial of truth tend to perpetuate sin, invoke crime, jeopardize self- control, and mock divine mercy.

Let Truth uncover and destroy error in God’s own way, and let human justice pattern the divine. Sin will receive its full penalty, both for what it is and for what it does. Justice marks the sinner, and teaches mortals not to remove the waymarks of God.

5.     474: 29-2 (to 2nd .)

The apostle says that the mission of Christ is to “destroy the works of the devil.” Truth destroys falsity and error, for light and darkness cannot dwell together. Light extinguishes the darkness, and the Scripture declares that there is “no night there.” To Truth there is no error, — all is Truth.

6.     452: 5-6, 12-17

The wrong thought should be arrested before it has a chance to manifest itself.

When error confronts you, withhold not the rebuke or the explanation which destroys error. Never breathe an immoral atmosphere, unless in the attempt to purify it. Better is the frugal intellectual repast with contentment and virtue, than the luxury of learning with egotism and vice.

7.     6: 23-6

Jesus uncovered and rebuked sin before he cast it out. Of a sick woman he said that Satan had bound her, and to Peter he said, “Thou art an offence unto me.” He came teaching and showing men how to destroy sin, sickness, and death. He said of the fruitless tree, “[It] is hewn down.”

It is believed by many that a certain magistrate, who lived in the time of Jesus, left this record: “His rebuke is fearful.” The strong language of our Master confirms this description.

The only civil sentence which he had for error was, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” Still stronger evidence that Jesus’ reproof was pointed and pungent is found in his own words, — showing the necessity for such forcible utterance, when he cast out devils and healed the sick and sinning.

8.     53: 6-7

He rebuked sinners pointedly and unflinchingly, because he was their friend; hence the cup he drank.

9.     449: 19-28

The baneful effect of evil associates is less seen than felt. The inoculation of evil human thoughts ought to be understood and guarded against. The first impression, made on a mind which is attracted or repelled according to personal merit or demerit, is a good detective of individual character. Certain minds meet only to separate through simultaneous repulsion. They are enemies without the preliminary offence. The impure are at peace with the impure. Only virtue is a rebuke to vice.

10.     225: 25-28

The despotic tendencies, inherent in mortal mind and always germinating in new forms of tyranny, must be rooted out through the action of the divine Mind.

11.     30: 26-3

If we have triumphed sufficiently over the errors of material sense to allow Soul to hold the control, we shall loathe sin and rebuke it under every mask. Only in this way can we bless our enemies, though they may not so construe our words. We cannot choose for ourselves, but must work out our salvation in the way Jesus taught. In meekness and might, he was found preaching the gospel to the poor. Pride and fear are unfit to bear the standard of Truth, and God will never place it in such hands.

12.     569: 6-28

The Scripture, “Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many,” is literally fulfilled, when we are conscious of the supremacy of Truth, by which the nothingness of error is seen; and we know that the nothingness of error is in proportion to its wickedness. He that touches the hem of Christ’s robe and masters his mortal beliefs, animality, and hate, rejoices in the proof of healing, — in a sweet and certain sense that God is Love. Alas for those who break faith with divine Science and fail to strangle the serpent of sin as well as of sickness! They are dwellers still in the deep darkness of belief. They are in the surging sea of error, not struggling to lift their heads above the drowning wave.

What must the end be? They must eventually expiate their sin through suffering. The sin, which one has made his bosom companion, comes back to him at last with accelerated force, for the devil knoweth his time is short. Here the Scriptures declare that evil is temporal, not eternal. The dragon is at last stung to death by his own malice; but how many periods of torture it may take to remove all sin, must depend upon sin’s obduracy.

13.     538: 3 only, 7-10

Truth should, and does, drive error out of all selfhood.

Radiant with mercy and justice, the sword of Truth gleams afar and indicates the infinite distance between Truth and error, between the material and spiritual, — the unreal and the real.

14.     380: 4 only

Truth is always the victor.